How STaaS Can Enable Greater Agility and Sustainability

As IT decision makers continue to turn to Storage as a Service (STaaS) as a way to balance budgets with shifting data storage and access needs, some are beginning to consider it as a path to more sustainable storage operations, as well.

The sheer volume of data that has been generated, processed, shared and stored over the years, has largely been met with storage systems that were not created to support such volumes and expansive, complicated environments. As a result, it’s not uncommon for organizations to lack efficiency and operational resiliency, which can leave them less green as well as more vulnerable to system failures and slowdowns.

Nearly 90% of respondents to a recent 451 Research survey said, “energy efficiency and sustainability,” will be key considerations when choosing data storage infrastructure in the future. Meanwhile, Stanford University research shows that data centers could slash emissions by 88% by switching to efficient off the shelf equipment and improving energy management.

And a recent IDC forecast shows that cloud computing could eliminate a billion metric tons of CO2 emissions or even more over the next four years. Even if growth in green data centers does not increase, migration in cloud could save 629 million metric tons over the next four years.

Regulatory agencies are taking note and planning is gaining momentum. New U.S. government data center energy efficiency targets and metrics were included in the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. And in the EU, digital legislators said current proposals under consideration will inform a final decision on what legal instruments it might use to achieve its declared aim of making data centers carbon neutral and energy efficient by 2030.

Although on-prem data centers can be lacking when it comes to energy efficiency, they continue to play a critical role in the way organizations store and access data, especially those beholden to data regulatory requirements. STaaS can solve for this scenario, providing cloud-like sustainability benefits along with the high level of control needed by organizations today. With consumption-based data storage access, STaaS can keep costs aligned with business goals and storage energy aligned to usage, while integrating seamlessly with on-prem storage systems. Organizations have choice and flexibility wherever they may be on the path to transformation.

Storage efficiency and sustainability may not always factor into IT decision-making—even though most organizations are aware of their benefits. But with STaaS, organizations can gain much needed storage agility to drive cost-savings and competitiveness in the market—while at the same time taking a big step towards more sustainable data storage.

Hitachi Vantara is committed to more sustainable data storage and Storage as a Service from Hitachi Vantara part of the Everflex brand of offerings is a step in the right direction.

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